Australia's chief selector offered insight into the biggest talking points after big calls were made on the squads to play India
T20 vision for Aussies as quartet of major tournaments loom
The shortest format is in focus for Australia's women, who are determined to return to re-stock their trophy cabinet as four major T20I tournaments loom in the space of two-and-half years.
Sophie Molineux's first big assignment as full-time Australia skipper will be the T20 World Cup in England in June and July, where the'’ll be out to reclaim the trophy they surrendered when they were knocked out in the semi-final of the 2024 event.
That will be followed by the inaugural Women's T20 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in June 2027, before the LA Olympics are staged shortly before the 2028 T20 World Cup in Pakistan.
That emphasis on the shortest format has been instructive in Australia's selections for the upcoming T20I leg of the multi-format series against India, where they'll field their strongest available line-up that could travel to England in June.
That includes the much-anticipated return of Nicola Carey to the international fold. Since turning down a national contract in 2023 in order to spend more time playing domestic cricket rather than warming the bench for Australia, Carey has evolved into a more versatile bowler and powerful batter, and is likely to play a large role in Australia's plans for the upcoming tournament.
"It was great to give Nic a call and let her know about her selection," Australia national selector Shawn Flegler said on Thursday.
"She was in a tough position there for a while, she was in and out of the team and wasn't getting a lot of playing opportunities, but she's gone back and dominated domestic cricket.
"She thoroughly deserves her opportunity, so really excited to see how she goes."
Teenage left-arm quick Lucy Hamilton was included in her first Australian Test squad, but was also considered for selection across all formats, Flegler revealed, with further call-ups likely in the not-so-distant future.
"We've been watching her for a while," Flegler said of Hamilton, who captained Australia's Under-19s at the 2025 World Cup and who was the WBBL|11 Young Gun.
"She's a tall left-arm pace bowler and there's not many of them around.
"She bowls at a different angle, she's got a good slower ball as well.
"We considered her for white-ball formats as well and that will happen in the future, I think she's going to be an all-format player for Australia."
Two of the largest talking points were the omissions of Alana King and Megan Schutt from the T20I and ODI squads respectively.
King was squeezed out by the return of Molineux, a decision that tracks with Australia's T20I selections in recent years, with leg-spinner King only featuring in the XI when her left-arm orthodox teammate was unavailable.
That will not rule King out of T20 World Cup contention however, with a larger squad of 15 to be taken to the tournament in the UK.
"(King) hasn't done much wrong at all," Flegler said.
"But we've got the three world-class spinners with Georgia Wareham our leading leg-spinner in T20s.
"We've been fairly consistent with that for a long time now, and Ash and obviously Soph as well.
"So unfortunately, Alana misses out.
"She gets a chance to play in the Governor-General's game against India, and she'll play in the ODIs and in the contention for the Test match."
Flegler also stressed that Megan Schutt's ODI career was not over despite being dropped from the 50-over side to play India.
Given the next World Cup in the format is not until late 2029 – and Schutt, 33, has already confirmed she will not play in it – Australia will undergo a degree of evolution before that event is staged. Grace Harris and Heather Graham were the other members of last year's ODI World Cup squad to miss selection to face India.
But Flegler said the ICC Women's ODI Championship, a round-robin contest between the top 11 teams held each cycle and which determines automatic World Cup qualification, meant every eligible ODI series remained important.
"(It's) certainly not the end for Megan," Flegler said.
"We've got 14 in that squad, with Nicola coming back in and bowling the same sort of shape as Megan, and also just having Darcie (Brown) having a bit more of an opportunity in that one-day format.
"I thought that was a good chance to do that against India in our conditions, so certainly not the end for Megan, highly valued member of the team, and (we) look forward to her coming back in at some point."
Australia have won all three ODI Championships since the concept was first introduced in 2014, and they'll begin the 2026-29 cycle when they travel to the Caribbean in March, followed by a home series against Bangladesh in October.
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil
February 15: First T20, SCG, 7:15pm AEDT
February 19: Second T20, Manuka Oval, Canberra, 7:15pm AEDT
February 21: Third T20, Adelaide Oval, 7:15pm AEDT
Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol
February 24: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT
February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)